In 1980, their priceless violin was stolen. It’s finally been found.
See, cold cases can be solved!
A decades-old cold case involving the robbery of an expensive artistic creation from a Boston institution has finally been solved.
No, not the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum heist. Another cold case.
A rare Stradivarius violin stolen 35 years ago from a music school in Cambridge has finally been recovered and returned to the family of its owner. It’s discovery was as mundane as it was important: It was found during clean-up of a dead man’s house.
The Ames Stradivarius, built in 1734 by the famed Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari, belonged to Roman Totenberg, the famed Boston violinist. The Stradivarius was swiped from his office at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge after a show, his daughter Nina said on NPR.
Totenberg had used the Stradivarius for 38 years before it was stolen, Nina said, and he called it his “musical partner.’’ Born in Warsaw, Poland, the child prodigy joined Boston University’s faculty in 1961 and taught there until his death 50 years later. Along the way, he became one of the most renowned violinists of modern times.
Concert violinist and BU professor Roman Totenberg used a different violin after his Stradivarius was stolen.
The case then went cold for almost 35 years. The mystery was finally solved in a decidedly unspectacular way.
The Totenberg family long suspected that the Stradivarius had been taken by a young violinist named Phillip Johnson, but police said they did not have enough evidence for a search warrant.
Johnson died several years ago. During a cleaning of his house, his ex-wife and her boyfriend found the Stradivarius, and brought it to an appraiser to confirm its identity.
“Well, I’ve got good news for you, and I’ve got bad news for you,’’ the appraiser said, according to NPR. “The good news is that this is a Stradivarius. The bad news it was stolen 35, 36 years ago from Roman Totenberg.’’
He then tipped off law enforcement, who took possession of the item and returned it to Totenberg’s heirs.
“This is a remarkable story of a quick-witted violin appraiser who recognized the long-lost Ames Stradivarius and immediately called law enforcement,’’ Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, adding that it was “a joyful ending to an amazing story.’’
The famed Stradivarius violins, built about 400 years ago by Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari, are considered to be the best-made instruments in the world. About 400 remain in existence. The violins have been valued to be worth millions of dollars, topped by a $15.6 million price for one in 2011.
Although they have only just been reunited with the lost heirloom, the Totenberg family said they will sell the Ames Stradivarius.
“We’re going to make sure that it’s in the hands of another great artist who will play it in concert halls all over the world,’’ Nina Totenberg said in The New York Times. “All of us feel very strongly that the voice has been stilled for too long.’’
Gallery: The works of art stolen in that other cold case, the Gardner Museum heist.
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